Tag: Inspiration

Hey y’all, welcome back and happy#MOTIVATIONALMONDAY! Today’s inspiring quote is one that has really hit home recently, and not just regarding fitness (although it does have a lot of meaning there). I thought I would share this quote in hopes of motivating and changing even just one person’s mindset towards themselves, their lives, goals, and any challenges they face. Anything we pursue in life is going to come with its difficulties and obstacles, so next time you face one in your own life, remember this quote, change your mindset, and keep pushing forward!

One reason this resonates so heavily with me, is I used to be afraid of everything little thing! Okay, okay….I still am sort of. I have gotten better at not worrying heavily about the future or small things, but there certainly main times in my life currently when I start thinking: and that’s the exact moment fear takes over. For example, my current bulking phase of way-upping my calories more than I am used to. There are times when although I know I need lots of carbs and food, I get scared of weight gain. It sounds silly that I would be scared of the one thing I want and need to do, but it’s just a natural part of being a women in this society (and not easy to admit on here at all, but I want to open with my readers). But instead, lately, I’ve been finding myself focusing on what could go right. I could (and will) gain killer muscle and definition. I will be a stronger and better athlete. I will have more balance in my life. Sure, there are some negatives that are bound to happen and/or could happen, but by changing my mindset towards it, my motivation towards my goal strengthens.

I think often times we let fear get in the way of what we want: dating that one guy, your dream job that doesn’t seem plausible, that killer fitness-level, etc. Once we let fear creep in, doubt starts filling our minds and we suddenly stop believing we can do it. Well guess what?? YOU CAN DO IT. All it takes is changing your mindset and your thoughts to be a more positive outlook on your future. It’s all up to you! If we focus on the failure, we’ll be too scared to keep trying for success. Because the only way to get to success is to fail first. We aren’t perfect, but giving up after failing gets you nowhere (aka being afraid of what could go wrong). Getting back up, persevering and pushing ahead (aka thinking what could go right) after failing leads you to your goals, and to success.

To put this into perspective, Babe Ruth’s quote sums this up pretty well: “Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game.” Imagine if the absolute best baseball player (most home runs, best batting average, etc.) was too afraid of striking out that he never even stepped up to the plate. In that situation, it all seems ridiculous, right? Well, the same can be said about you and your life. Whatever you aren’t doing or aren’t pursuing because you’re afraid, start thinking of it in a positive light. Start imagining what actually could go right, and get excited about it. Let that excitement push your dreams and your actions!

Your mind controls your body; therefore, your body cannot go where your mind doesn’t tell it to. Start telling your mind that you are capable, that you can accomplish your goals, and start thinking of all the things that could go right. Once you do this, there will be no room for fear to creep in and collapse your dreams. Start being excited by all the possibilities and what you’re capable of! Stop being afraid. Start being excited by all the possibilities you’re capable of. And then go after it–all in–and do.it.all.

Hey y’all! Sorry I’ve been a little MIA last week–I was helping my sister move and I kept very busy. That’s also the reason that today’s post will be a little shorter…but nonetheless AWESOME! So let’s get to it and have an amazing #MOTIVATIONALMONDAY (and week of course)!!

**This is mainly written geared towards fitness-related goals, but in all honesty, today’s motivational message could be used in any aspect of life and goals.

Social media is both a blessing and a curse. It allows us to be connected with each others’ lives, but at the same time, it allows everyone’s life to be posted for all to see. And most of the time, it’s just the “best moments/snapshots” of their lives. We see the beautiful bikini shot or the super-toned muscle picture or the girl that’s rocking her meal prep and clean eating. Yes, these are awesome moments and they are working hard, but there is probably a lot behind the scenes, behind the pictures, that we don’t see that isn’t always perfect. Yet we use the perfect moments posted to compare ourselves, our lives, and our journeys–which is not fair to ourselves!

It’s not about being the best because unfortunately, most of the time there will always be someone better than you in some aspect: someone going to the gym one more day, eating one less bite of junk food, lifting 1 pound heavier…you get the idea. If we are so focused on being the best, better than everyone else, then we aren’t focusing on what’s truly important in reaching our goals: OURSELVES! Instead, focus on being better than you were yesterday. Eat one more meal at home rather than going out, watch one less tv show than yesterday and go for a walk instead, do one more rep than you did yesterday. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as you are becoming a better version of yourself! That’s what fitness and the journey to accomplish your goals is all about; bettering yourself, one step at a time.

If you constantly compare yourself and your progress to others, you’ll be defeated and down on yourself because someone will always seem to have and do it better than you. That’s just the hard truth. However, the good news is that in your fitness journey other people don’t matter. Because what worked/works for them may not work for you! There are many different paths to the same end result.

So, if instead of comparing yourself to others, you look behind at where you started and forward at where you want to go and are going, I can guarantee you will see more progress and feel a lot better. And at the end of the day, progress over perfection is what it’s all about. Being better than yesterday over being best is what it really truly important.

Happy #MOTIVATIONALMONDAY everyone!! I can’t believe it’s already week 11 into 2017–time is flying! And by now, your lives are probably flying with chaos too. It’s about that time where the adrenaline, “pump”, and excitement from starting a new program or a new plan towards your goals is dying off, leaving you in a tired, going-through-the-motions, zombie-like state. With everything going on, you start doing less and less. You stop planning as much and start half-assing working towards your goal. You start making excuses.

Even if that’s not you, you’ve probably given a few excuses yourself from time to time. And I get it, life gets busy and things come up so you cannot do what you had planned or wanted to do. BUT, that does not mean you can’t do something. Sure, it may not be ideal or what you had planned out, but it’s doing something! It’s getting you a step closer. Because doing something to help yourself reach your goal is better than doing nothing…and it’s a whole heck of a lot better than making excuses.

You see: excuses are where dreams/goals go to die. (Yeah I just made that up, but I’m sure someone somewhere once said something similar). As corny and cliché as that may sound it’s so true. Excuses eventually become habits which eventually become your lifestyle. Excuses are like this:

Day by day you keep saying oh, I’ll just workout tomorrow, I’ll push back my planning to another day or there’s always another time. Eventually that tomorrow or that “other day” becomes never and you lose sight of your goals. Because although you said “tomorrow” yesterday, “tomorrow” usually won’t and doesn’t happen. But don’t feel like hope is lost! I have a few tips to follow that will help you start TODAY on your goals no matter what is going on or what happens in your life. Try following these tips next time you want to make an excuse as to why you can’t do something!

Plan ahead. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. If you don’t have some sort of plan or schedule, it’s hard to just jump into the journey and work towards your goal. It doesn’t have to be super strict or extravagant or detailed, but it needs to work for you and your goal.

Be flexible. On the other side of your plan, don’t make it so strict that it’s impossible to follow daily. Because the future isn’t predictable, unforeseen things are bound to come up. And if you think that you can’t do anything towards your goal because it doesn’t perfectly fit into your plan, you’ll end up doing nothing. Remember, something is better than nothing!

Small steps. Don’t try to take your entire goal on in one sitting. Instead, split your plan up into small tasks. Such as: meal plan and prep for a month straight (it’ll become a habit) or focus on working out 3 times a week. Small, doable tasks will do you good!

Set aside time. Oftentimes people don’t have time because they don’t make it. Take out 30-60 minutes of your day to work on your goals, and put it into your planner, your phone, your calendar, etc. Once this is set aside, you’ll have the time to actually work towards accomplishing your goals.

Start. The easiest way to stop making excuses, to stop saying tomorrow is to just start. Do something. Set your alarm early to workout before school/work, spend 15 minutes while watching tv to prep and pack your lunches for the week, open that self-improvement book and read a few pages. The point is to just start doing one small thing, which will eventually lead to bigger, greater actions!

For today’s #MOTIVATIONALMONDAY, I come at it from a a little bit of a different angle. Sure, it’s of course still meant to motivate you and inspire you (that’s kinda the point of these), but I want to do so through a time of reflection. A time to look back at how hard you have worked these past 8 weeks. A time where you can appreciate what you’ve done–whether or not you’ve met your goals. I want you to see your own journey (not those with the seemingly “perfect journey” on social media) that you’ve taken and use that as your continued motivation!

A lot of times when we are trying to reach our goals and achieve great things, we are told not to look back. After all, we aren’t going that way. This is true, but what it means is don’t look back with regret and wish you could go back in time, don’t dwell and live in the past. However, in our own individual journeys, especially if it’s a fitness-related one, it’s important to look back to see how far you really have come. It can be frustrating to feel like you haven’t made any progress physically, emotionally, mentally, relationship-wise, etc. when we look at the short-term. But change takes time! Your body isn’t going to miraculously change in 2 weeks or even 2 months. There will be small changes here and there that over the course of time, will amount to a big transformation. But the only way you’ll see that is if you look back to where you started and see just how far you’ve come.

So often, we find ourselves in the”go-go-go” mode trying to do the next thing on our list and accomplish the next task. When we make one goal or hit one target, we don’t even appreciate that milestone–we just keep chugging ahead to the next one. I think the reason people are often disappointed in their goal-status is because we keep comparing ourselves to what our end goal is and we find, like the quote says, that we aren’t where we need to be or want to be or think we should be. However, we also need to realize that we aren’t where we used to be. That we have grown and changed and become a new person because of our personal journey in life. Now, I’m not saying don’t ever look forward to your goals and compare your current life to your goals. The whole point of having a goal is to have a point to reach that you currently aren’t at now, so you have to keep checking your positioning in relation to your goals. I’m just saying, don’t get so caught up in the fact that you haven’t met your goal or that you feel far away from it, when if you looked at where you used to be you would realize you are making a difference by doing what you are doing.

A good way to sum this up is this: progress over perfection. We are never going to be perfect and you may never perfectly reach every inch of your goal. That doesn’t mean give up. No, you should still work hard every day to reach your goal because who knows, you just might! But instead of worrying about perfection, focus on our progress. Because eventually that progress will lead you to where you want to be. When you do stumble or fall or fail, don’t let that define your ability to reach your goals. It’s all about perseverance that will get you there: to where you want to be. Look back at your journey just long enough to realize how much progress you’ve made and how far you’ve come; and use that to motivate you to continue working to get to where you want to be. And then…don’t ever stop.